Cartons for encasing multiple articles are useful for enabling consumers to obtain and transport a desired quantity of individual articles such as soft drinks or other beverages. When such a multiple-pack of articles is obtained, a consumer often requires removal of the articles individually. Thus it can be appreciated that a carton with a dispensing feature that facilitates the removal of a single article from the carton at a time would be desirable.
Cartons designed for dispensing beverage cans one at a time are known in the art. Often the cans are packaged in two rows and disposed upon their sides in rolling contact with the bottom of the carton. This may not be a suitable orientation if the articles contained were more fragile, such as glass bottles, and the cartons needed to be stacked on top of each other.
State of the art cartons have dispensers which allow only one or two of the cans contained within the carton to be accessed by the user at a time. However it may sometimes be desirable to have a choice of which article to dispense, if, for example, the carton were to contain a variety of different flavoured products.
Dispensing features on cartons for containing cans, often employ the can's ability to roll, to assist their removal. This kind of dispensing feature would not work with articles that were not cylindrical, for example, rectangular juice cartons. Thus it can be appreciated that a carton for encasing, carrying and dispensing asymmetric articles, such as bottles would be desirable.
It would be problematic for articles to be dispensed undesirably from the carton, especially if such articles were made from an easily breakable material such as glass. Thus it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a carton with a dispenser suitable for safely carrying and dispensing bottles.